In the recent decision of A v B and another [2020] EWHC 1491, the High Court decided that where an auditor is required to provide documents to a regulator, and the auditor’s client asserts privilege over such documents, it is for the auditor to decide whether the documents are in fact privileged and therefore should not … Continue Reading
Last week we reported on the FCA’s recent success at trial against pensions introducers Avacade and Alexandra Associates with the High Court deciding that Avacade and Alexandra had provided unregulated pensions advisory services to consumers.… Continue Reading
There have been further developments in the FCA’s test case concerning business interruption (“BI”) insurance. Details have just been published on the FCA’s website.… Continue Reading
Earlier this month, in Lenkor Energy Trading Dmcc (“Lenkor“) v Puri (“Mr Puri“) [2020] EWHC 1432 the High Court upheld an order granting summary judgment in favour of Lenkor in relation to a debt owed to it by Mr Puri under a Dubai judgment. Mr Puri’s argument that illegality tainting the underlying transaction made enforcement … Continue Reading
The first Case Management Conference (“CMC”) in the FCA’s test case on business interruption (“BI”) insurance coverage took place earlier this week before Judge Christopher Butcher.… Continue Reading
In Towergate Financial (Group) Ltd & Ors (“Buyer”) v Hopkinson & Ors (“Sellers”) [2020] EWHC 984, the High Court considered the construction of a contractual limitation period for notifying indemnity claims. The Court found that the Buyer was unable to claim under an indemnity as it had not complied with necessary notice requirements.… Continue Reading
Yesterday, the Court finally gave judgement in Russell Adams v Options SIPP UK LLP, a significant test case on the potential liability of an execution only SIPP provider to an investor whose underlying investment in the SIPP had incurred significant losses. In a 99 page judgment, His Honour Judge Dight decided that the Defendant was … Continue Reading
Fine Care Homes Ltd v NatWest Markets plc [2020] EWHC 874 (Ch) concerns a claim for negligence and misrepresentation based on the alleged mis-selling of an interest rate hedging product. The Court recently granted, in part, Fine Care Homes Ltd’s (“Fine Care“) application for specific disclosure against NatWest.… Continue Reading
The High Court has recently held in Rihan v Ernst and Young Global Ltd & Others [2020] EWHC 901 that four entities of the Ernst and Young global network (“EY“) were in breach of a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent a former EY partner, Mr Rihan, from suffering financial loss by reason of … Continue Reading
In a welcome and robust defence of the scope of legal professional privilege (LPP), the Court of Appeal in Sports Direct International Plc v Financial Reporting Council [2020] EWCA Civ 177, reiterated last week that there are no exceptions to the protections afforded by LPP unless it is used to hide criminal actions or where … Continue Reading
Brexit Day has come and gone. The Big Ben Bongs (try saying that after a few glasses of English sparkling wine) have sounded and Britain has broken the shackles of the European Union and entered a new era of free trade deals, blue passports and control of our borders. If this means paying a bit … Continue Reading
Litigation surrounding film finance schemes continues to rumble on in the High Court. Earlier this month, the High Court in Barness v Ingenious Media Ltd [2019] EWHC 3299 (Ch) granted applications by two banks Coutts and Natwest (“Banks“) to strike out a number of lender claims in a case that is part of the “Ingenious litigation”.… Continue Reading
Last week, the High Court found Genworth Financial Inc. (“Genworth“), liable to pay losses to AXA in the potential sum of £265 million, in respect of compensation that AXA had paid to settle payment protection insurance (“PPI“) misselling claims against two Genworth subsidiaries that were acquired by AXA.… Continue Reading
In BGC Brokers LP & others v Tradition (UK) Ltd & others, the Court of Appeal dismissed BGC Brokers LP’s (“Claimant“) appeal against an order allowing inspection by several other defendants of an unredacted settlement agreement between the Claimant and Simon Cuddihy (“Third Defendant“).… Continue Reading
The recently reported High Court decision in Vorotyntseva v Money-4 Ltd (T/A Nebus.com) shows that freezing orders can cover Bitcoin and ethereum cryptocurrency. It is another example of the Courts finding that a cryptoasset is a form of property capable of being the subject of a Court order. The case was heard in 2018, but the judgment … Continue Reading
In February 2018, we reported here that the Court of Appeal had rejected a stockbrocker’s (Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Ltd (“Daiwa“)) appeal against the High Court’s decision that it owed a client (Singularis Holdings Limited (“Singularis“)) a Quincecare duty.… Continue Reading
On 1 November 2019, the Business Banking Resolution Service (“BBRS”) launched a new dispute resolution pilot in preparation for the introduction of its new service, which was originally announced in November 2018 by UK Finance, a trade body for British lenders. The service aims to provide alternative dispute resolution services for “larger” eligible small and … Continue Reading
The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Addlesee & Ors v Dentons Europe LLP has confirmed that the documents of a dissolved company remain subject to legal advice privilege (“LAP“) even if there is no longer a benefitting client entitled to assert LAP.… Continue Reading
The Court of Appeal in Simantob v Shavleyan [2019] EWCA Civ 1105 has held that an unmeritorious defence was good consideration for the variation of a settlement agreement, which resulted in payment to the creditor of a lesser sum than the debt due.… Continue Reading
In The Federal Republic of Nigeria v JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA [2019] EWHC 347 (Comm), the High Court dismissed an interim application by the Defendant, JP Morgan Chase Bank (“JP Morgan“), for reverse summary judgment, finding that JP Morgan owed a Quincecare duty of care to the Claimant.… Continue Reading
Where a claimant has already issued related Court proceedings in another jurisdiction, the English Court is unlikely to be the appropriate forum for the trial of a claim, according to the recent High Court decision in Punjab National Bank (International) Ltd v Srinivasan and others [2019] UKHC 89 (Ch).… Continue Reading
A Norwich Pharmacal Order (“NPO“) forces a third party to disclose documents or information to an applicant. These Court orders are typically used to identify a proper defendant to a claim or to get information to enable someone to set out their case in Court documents. The respondent to an NPO application is generally not the defendant to … Continue Reading
The Upper Tribunal, the independent Court that hears appeals from FCA decisions, last week upheld the regulator’s decision to fine Stewart Ford, the former CEO of Keydata Investment Services Limited, a huge £76million (the largest FCA fine on an individual) and ban him from working in the financial services industry. The Tribunal decided that the FCA had been correct to ban and fine … Continue Reading
The recent High Court decision in Caribonum Pension Trustee Limited v Pelikan Hardcopy Production AG [2018] EWHC 2321 (Ch) will provide some comfort for pension plan trustees owed money by insolvent sponsoring employers by allowing trustees to pursue guarantors within the same group for those debts. What was contended to be an abuse of Court process … Continue Reading
